Changing One's Karma

Bathing in the Clear Stream of the Mystic Law Leads One to Happiness

Changing one's karma is to redirect the unhappiness embedded in one's life to a life of happiness through faith in the Mystic Law.

Each one of our lives is likened to a vessel. Depending on the contents, one's vessel of Life can either be deluded, full of vitality or weak. Karma is like the content of one's vessel. That is why Karma includes not only bad karma but also good karma, depending on the contents of one's vessel.

In the reality of today's world, it seems that there are a lot of people who suffer from bad karma instead of good. The word 'Karma' connotes a bad image. It is important to change bad karma into good karma.

The question here is what should one do to change one's karma. First of all, before we even attempt to answer this question, it is important to understand just how karma came to be formed. Buddhism explains that karma is the accumulation of actions and deeds in our lives up until now. There are both good and bad actions that one accumulates in one's lifetime. The actions that enrich one's life automatically become embedded in one's life and take the form of good karma. On the other hand, the bad actions are the causes that create bad results such as unhappiness and also become embedded in one's life, taking the form of bad karma.

Buddhism teaches that the earthly desires of greed, anger, delusion (inability to see things for what they really are), vanity, and mistrust cause us to make bad causes. The workings of these distorted earthly desires cause us to accumulate bad actions and have illusions about our lives. It is said that common mortals are unable to escape from this vicious cycle.

If one repeats a single action based on greed for example, it tends to take root in one's life and makes one deluded. From the Buddhist point of view, changing one's karma is considered in the context of the three existences of past, present and future.

Morally bad actions such as crimes must be properly admonished. If one is strongly conscious of one's actions, one can stop making bad causes to some extent through one's strong efforts.

Nichiren Daishonin warns of the kind of bad karma that should be feared the most, namely slander of the Law. For people who do not know about Buddhism it could be a difficult concept to grasp, but in this case slander means to go against the fundamental Law of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo which harmonizes the universe and life at their source. It is an undeniable fact that the Mystic Law exists. To ignore or despise it because of earthly desires such as self conceit, mistrust, and one's own foolishness is to distort one's life in its very roots and to deepen the causes of misfortune in one's life.

Brighten Up One's Life With Faith

Since the Mystic Law is the fundamental Law of life itself, to continuously ignore it throughout one's life is to create obstacles in one's life. For example, it is easy to imagine what would happen if one drove a car and ignored all traffic regulations.

In the Daishonin's Buddhism, the basis of creating bad karma for oneself is in the action of ignoring the Mystic Law. Karma is elucidated as a stern reality of life in the context of the eternity of life not only in this life time but in the past and future as well.
In contrast, if one were to carrry out the action of embracing the Mystic law, correctly and steadfastly, in other words, putting the Mystic Law into practice, this action itself serves as a source that allows one to change bad karma into good karma.

Since we have created bad karma by slandering the Mystic law unknowingly in the distant past, the vessels of our lives have taken on ugly distortions and have become muddied and deluded. By putting our faith in the Mystic Law into action, we are able to wash away the deluded vessel of our lives and make it into a strong and pure treasure vessel. As a result, our lives become bright and robust.

Source: Buddhist Studies - Pg 89-90.